| Summary: | A morphometric comparison between 30 glacial cirques located in European basement areas and 30 cirques located in the Alps attests significant differences between the Alpine cirques and those of basement complex areas. In average, Alpine cirques are larger and their wall is higher. Those differences cannot be accounted for by different glacial erosion, that no evidence suggests, but by different topographic and geomorphic conditions. The relief energy is more contrasted in Alpine mountains, whereas flat topographies and stepped landforms, inherited from the Tertiary, are more frequent in basement complex areas.
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